Showing posts with label Sweet Stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sweet Stuff. Show all posts

Oct 11, 2011

Making It Up As I Go

That's pretty much how I live my life, actually - I just make it up as I go. And it's working out pretty well for me, thus far. Sure, I've got that something-year plan and an image/big picture in the back of my mind, but as for the details, I tend towards spontaneity and seizing opportunities as they come. For me, that's the most fun way to enjoy life and I love it!

One night, at about 8:30pm, I decided that I felt like making up a recipe. Something healthy, that would use the rest of my agave syrup and that big old jar of white beans that's been sitting in the back of my cupboard for a while. But it needed to be tasty, too. And I wanted something fruity...and chocolatey, too...

Making It Up Murfins*


* 525g white beans, rinsed and drained

* 1.5 tsp. baking powder

* 1/4 tsp. baking soda

* 1/3 c. olive oil (though any veg oil would do)

* 1/2 tsp. salt

* 3/4 c. agave syrup

* 2/3 c. oats

* 1 tsp. cinnamon (heaping)

* Frozen berries (about 1/2 to 1 cup)

* 1/4 c. unsweetened baking cocoa

1) Mash the beans with fork, if you're a poor college kid like myself. Of course, if you own a fancy vitamix (drool), you could blend them up in that. Otherwise, just mash for about five or ten minutes, or however long it takes you to finish reading your chapter of your book-of-the-day.

2) Stir in everything but the berries and baking cocoa. Mix well, pour a little each into 8 lined muffin cups.

3) Sprinkle most of the frozen berries (your choice; I'm not quite sure what the ones I used were. I tend to tell my 6-year-old sister not to eat things if she doesn't know what they are - unless, of course, they might be made of chocolate. But I made an exception, because I was pretty confident that the berries were edible) on top of the batter in the muffin cups.

4) Cover the berries in six of the muffin cups with more batter.


5) Stir the cocoa into the remaining batter. Cover the berries in the other two muffin cups with chocolatey batter.

6) Fill the remaining four muffin cups likewise, but chocolatey this time!


7) Bake for about 30 minutes at about 350F. If your oven actually listens to you...

Sadly, my old oven doesn't. I mean, okay, it's seen the better part of a century. But so has my dad! Thus, that's no excuse to require me to cover everything with aluminum foil (making ugly tops as the muffins puff up and then cave in once they touch the foil), to turn the tray a gabajillion times while baking, and still make my treats look like this:

GAH! Oh well, at least they're tasty. Even if they're murfins only a mother could love. That just means more for me!

* That's not a typo- these are denser than muffins/cake/cupcakes, but they're still sweet and delightful treats, so I figured that they're murfins. Somehow, the name just fits.

Do you have any idea of how to make my age-old oven obey me?

Do you know how I could check what the temperature really is in there? I don't have a special candy thermometer, but I doubt that it's really just 170C in there, when I turn it to 170C...

Oct 7, 2011

The Chemistry of Clever Chocolate

Sorry guys, I'm just in an alliteration kind of mood today (even if it's only spelled, and not spoken, alliteration). It's a wearing-the-nerdy-glasses kind of day.

Anyway, here's a little fun chemistry: radicals earn their negative reputation! Literally - radicals are molecular species with electrons that have unpaired spins (an example of a radical is NO). Because of the unpaired electron spins, radicals are energetically unstable and highly reactive.


HINT: Highly reactive compounds tend not to be something you want to have inside of you. :P

Antioxidants are compounds that react rapidly with radicals, (hopefully) before they can do any/much damage. Consuming antioxidants can thus delay the effects of radicals on your system, keeping you healthy and young longer! And guess what a tasty source of antioxidants is?

Clever chocolate!

So what's clever chocolate?


I'd call this Peppermint Ulimana Truffle clever - made of just a few, simple, organic, raw ingredients and super-delicious to boot!


They're dark and awesome and fudgy as can be. I ate one just like that and then chopped up the other two to make a crazy-awesome sandwich (because you just can't eat three, even though they're small, plain - they're too flavorful).


Whole rye bread topped with a thick layer of plain quark, chopped peppermint truffle, and walnuts from the garden. I had to cut the slice of bread into thirds, because the mountain of toppings would otherwise slide off, and didn't think to take a picture until the last third (above) was the only one left.


So yummy!

Do you understand why certain things are healthy?
Do you care about the 'why'?
What's your favorite subject?

AND: What do you want to be when you grow up (even if you're already a grown up)?

Oct 6, 2011

Curious George Cookies!

So, first off, my little sister loved these cookies. That means they're officially six-year-old approved. And yeah, she's a Curious George fan.


The short of it is that they're:

  • Soft
  • Fudgy
  • Huge
  • Filling
  • Sweet
  • Don't taste healthy (or fruity) - just decadent chewy double chocolate cookie goodness
  • Very rich and great with the extra walnut crunch and melty pockets of chocolate chip goodness throughout


So what if they're a little crumbly? They may make a bit of a mess, but it's so worth it. OH MY GOSH, are they delicious - and very chocoholic friendly. Plus, the ingredients make them mom approved. ;)

My only reservation about Nana's Double Chocolate Cookies, that keeps them from being LivingLearningEating's perfect packaged baked good, is that the folks at Nana's Cookies, nice as they are, are guilty of Pop Tarts Packaging.

What I mean by that is that they pack 2 servings into what any unsuspecting consumer (especially little kids) would think is a single serving packet. And, though it's a massive, mall-sized cookie that most people (unless they're trying to gain weight) don't need, it's hard to stop at just half of the cookie. Besides, the cookie is filling and flavorful enough that half of it (aka one serving) would otherwise do.

That said, the whole cookie filled me up as much as a sandwich would and kept me going (I had it as a work snack) from the ER, to the blood lab, to the endoscopy, to the ICM, and back again. ;)


You know I love these! Chocolate? Walnuts? Fudgy goodness without refined sugar and with whole grains as the first ingredient? Yes, please!

What were your favorite childhood shows/books?

What's your favorite snack on-the-go?

Have you ever tried fruit juice sweetened baked goods?

Oct 2, 2011

Ask and you will receive [answers]

Hi, guys!

I'm always curious about what you guys want to know about me. And I bet you want to know something (as egoistic as that sounds) because otherwise you wouldn't read my blog...right?

So ask away!

What do you want to know? What do you want to ask me?

If I get enough questions, I'll put together a Q&A post full of them. If not, I'll just email you the answers. :)

It's been a while since the last one, so I'm currently having a lot of fun writing a middle grade novel (WIP title 'The Princess Games') in the Wintergarten and savoring a delightful Ulimana Goji Cherry Truffle.


I'm not usually a fan of the chocolate-fruit combination (it used to literally make me gag when I was younger), but I'm actually loving this! The fudgy consistency is, as always, swoon-worthy:


And somehow the super-intense chocolatiness is well complimented by the dried Goji Berries and cherries. Tasty way to get those antioxidants in, much? Especially with a glass of ice-cold soy milk.

Sep 28, 2011

Product Review: Ulimana Mayan Truffles

I've heard about these super-decadent, surprisingly healthy truffles through other blogs, but never knew that they're made so close to home!

Yup, Ulimana Truffles are from Asheville, North Carolina - it's nice to see something tasty come from somewhere other than California, for once!

So I was obviously super-thrilled to get to try a couple:

I decided on ripping into the Mayan truffles first, as I wanted something intensely chocolaty and have been meaning to give spicy chocolate a go for a looooong time...

They sure aren't as fancy-looking as some truffles and they tout waaaay shorter ingredient lists (remember my promise yesterday?):

Despite (or because of?) this, they tasted WAAAAAY better than the truffles I had yesterday! Or, to be quite honest, any that I've ever had. I even prefer these to the Lindt bar that I had the other day...

The texture is just awesome - fudgy and very stick-to-your teeth chocolaty with an intense (but somehow not bitter?) chocolate flavor that I really haven't experienced anywhere else. Maybe its the fact that they're raw? Or that there's no refined sugar in them (I'm guessing that could be what improved the texture to awesomeness). And the spice kick of the cayenne pepper - wowza! LOVED IT!

Now I can be quite the chocolate fan and have been known to put a good amount of chocolate to rest, but I couldn't eat more than one of these little beauties (I had to share with my chocoholic mom, who LOVED them, too). The flavor is just so intense and so amazing that you just have enough after a little bit!

Which is a good thing, too, as they're pretty pricey - but it's okay, I guess, considering how tasty and healthy they are, plus the fact that you won't (can't) eat them in bulk. Seriously, these are a good once or twice per week treat, but I'm not enough of a chocoholic to have them daily.

Oh, and I bet they'd be good for people with issues with binge eating/portion control as you seriously *can't* eat a boatload of these (seriously - I bet you that you can't. This is the opposite of the Lay's potato chip challenge)!

They're RAW, VEGAN, and ORGANIC, guys!

Have you ever tried spicy chocolate?

Have you ever had raw chocolate?

Do you think luxury is worth it (ie: Ulimana truffles)?

I'm going to have to go with yes for the last one...what's the point of money, if not to improve quality of life?

Sep 27, 2011

Do You Speak American?

Hi, guys! What fun stuff have you been up to? I got to watch someone get what looked like a USB stick drive inserted just below her skin. In reality, it records heart frequencies and, as she has a tendency to just tip over, lets the doctors know what exactly is going on in there when she tips over. Tipping over isn't always so good... :P

I also tried these:


Which, despite their pretty packaging...


...were pretty disappointing. I didn't get the intense dark flavor that I like and the weird wafer thing (reminded me of a cheap ice cream cone?) over the Nutella-ish filling and under the weird chocolate sprinkles (didn't taste like much, I felt like they were just hardened sugar clumps that were dyed brown...) was pretty icky. The best part was the hazelnut in the center, but it was just a pretty standard hazelnut and nothing to write home about.

Bummer.

Maybe blame it on the ingredients list?


It's generally a warning when sugar is the very first ingredient - unless there's something intense to follow, it just means sweet. And sweet whey powder? White flour? Wheat starch? Tapioca starch? Ammonium hydrogen carbonate and sodium hydrogen carbonate?

Since when do such things belong in a truffle?! Sheesh, Ferrero!

Anyway, after that disappointment I'm looking forward to trying the super-yummy looking (very few, and all natural, ingredients, to boot!) truffles that the kind folks over at Ulimana sent me. That post will come soon. Probably sometime this (long) weekend. :)

Oh, and I just had to post these tasties:


Because other than having a great cracker texture for scooping up peanut butter, nutella, quark, you name it (check it out!)...


...they also reminded me of Sara!


That's why I bought them actually, because I couldn't stop giggling in the store. And I'm glad I did! Unlike Ferrero (who you think would know their chocolate), Finns obviously know their crackers/crisbread!

Oh and, as for the title of the post -

Fellow Intern: It's great how well you [and foreign patient] understand each other. It's so useful that English and American are so similar!

Me: Ehm.... (thinks: I didn't realize American was a language!)

Do you speak American?

What do you think it means to speak American?

Do you ever buy things because they remind you of someone you (kind of) know?

Sep 11, 2011

A Very Chocolatey Bakefest

After completing some chemistry and procrastinating with some reading, the baking bug bit again!

I planned on just making one recipe (chocolate chip muffins for my muffin-loving uncle):

But they turned out so nicely (compared to the blackened disasters I got out of my geriatric oven last week).


I decided I just had to try just one more recipe. Something experimental...

Not a giant hockey puck, I swear. Nope, this is a 'tray' of brownies baked in a skillet pan. I wanted them to have some interesting spelty flavor, because I'm a big fan of whole grain baked goods, and I was also hoping to sneak in a little protein. So whole spelt flour? Check. Tofu? Check. Tasty? Check!

The best part about baking sans-eggs is being able to sample the batter throughout, in order to see whether or not the result will *probably* taste at the end.

I stirred together: 0.25c baking cocoa, 0.5 c. whole spelt flour, 0.25 tsp. baking powder, and  0.25 tsp. salt. In a separate bowl, I blended 0.6c honey, 50g firm tofu (chopped), 0.5 c. olive oil, 0.25 c. cow's milk, 1 tsp. vanilla extract (butter-vanilla, to be exact). I combined the two (don't overmix!) and then added 100g of chopped Lindt Excellence. Throwing in a candy bar is always a fabulous idea. :) Then I baked the beauty for 30 minutes, covered with aluminum foil, at 150C. It was tasty! I will have to try it as a brownie sundae base...

Anyway, now I had this big tub of tofu open, and nothing to do with it! So I decided to try to make my own tofu 'ice cream' pops.

They ended up being slices, but tasty ones!

I blended: 350g (finely chopped) firm tofu, 1 Tbsp baking cocoa, 1 tsp vanilla extract (butter-vanilla, again), 1.5 c. cow's milk, 0.2 tsp. salt, melted 100g Lindt Excellence Bar, 0.3 cup honey.

Then I poured it in a ceramic form and stuck it in the fridge for an hour. Took it out again, inverted it, and froze it in single portions. I'm imagining that this will be *fantastic* frozen, as it was very tasty just chilled.


But I didn't even turn on the oven for that, so it just couldn't be how I'd end my baking day. Instead, I decided to make another chocolate chip cookie pie, since it was so tasty!

But, knowing me, I couldn't leave the recipe alone. A gabajillion alterations later, this popped out of the oven:

A very tasty, but very different, still-chocolate-chip-cookie pie.

This time, 500g white beans, 0.75 tsp. baking powder, 0.125 tsp. baking soda, 0.125tsp. salt, 1 c. honey, 1.5 tsp. vanilla extract (butter-vanilla), 0.4 c. quick oats, 0.25 c. (generous) semi-ground flax seed, and 0.3 c. olive oil were blended together. Then a 100g bar of Lindt Excellence was chopped in, followed by a couple handfuls of chocolate chips. A little shake of cinnamon, 75 minutes (covered in aluminum foil) in the oven at 170C and tada!

As to which one I prefer, I'm reserving judgement for just a little bit longer. I'll get back to you about that! :)

Anyway, it was a very satisfying Saturday. But boy was I full at the end!

Have you ever baked with tofu?

Do you find yourself tempted to play with recipes?

I can never leave good enough alone, because I always see room for improvement (in everything) and why settle for good?

Sep 6, 2011

Bake-fest

This weekend, I really got in the mood for baking. So I baked not one, not two, but three tasty desserts! In order of best turn-out, here they are:


My changes:

* I used 1 real egg (in place of the chia egg), because I neither had chia seeds nor are any of us vegan.

* I  used Latta margarine instead of Earth Balance, because I'm abroad and they don't have Earth Balance here.

* I crumbled walnuts on top, instead of sesame seeds, because the walnuts added awesome flavor.

* I used a 1/2c. white flour and a 1/2c. whole wheat flour because I didn't have any Kamut flour.

* I used white sugar, since I didn't have any brown sugar.

* I used honey in place of maple syrup.

* I used baking powder, since I didn't have any baking soda.

* I used dairy milk instead of almond milk, because I didn't have any almond milk and no one here is vegan.

It really seems like I can never just leave a recipe as-is! Still, it was really easy (and quick) to make and everyone, even those who *abhor* anything even close to a healthy-ish dessert, loved it!

The base (and topping) ended up being more cakey, with a runnier batter, than Angela's. That's probably due to the egg, the baking powder, and maybe the different margarine? I'd like to try it with a flax egg...though then I have to go find some ground flax seed. I've never actually baked with substitute 'eggs' before...

I had originally planned to freeze some for later, but these are too much of a hit for that to stand a chance of happening!

Recipe #2 was still tasty, but it was actually the first one that I baked (in my WWII-era oven, mind you) and the finnicky oven didn't want to do a good job - it burnt the top in the first ten minutes! Still, it ended up tasty - if charred. :)

Beany Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

425 g white beans

1 cup quick oats

0.5 cup vegetable oil (I used Raps, but canola should work, too)

2.5 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1.25 cup sugar

0.25 cup honey

200g high-quality dark chocolate, chopped (I used 2 Lindt Excellence 100g bars)

1)    Put the first 7 ingredients in a blender, blend. CAUTION: You’ll want to use a good blender! This killed my cheap one!

2)    Stir in the chopped chocolate.

3)    Pour into a baking paper lined baking dish (I baked it in my skillet pan).

4)    Bake at 175C for about 25 to 30 minutes, until testing toothpick comes out without globby stuff on it.

5)    Cool, cut, enjoy!

High in protein and fiber, this is a tasty way to sneak in some extra nutrients! It's essential to use high-quality chocolate, though - how can you expect a good pie if you don't use good ingredients?
You can definitely taste the bean flavor, so this isn't something for the warier picky eaters out there (my little sister wasn't a fan). The flavor fits in surprisingly well, however (me and my mom both really like it), so it's great if you're looking for a way to sneak in some beans into a tasty treat!

Funnily enough, the recipe that I enjoyed the least was also the 'normal' one. An apple pie that did not turn out well!


I left off the top crust, because I thought it would be nice to be able to see the apples, but then the filling didn't really solidify super-well. It tasted okay, but was definitely not a beauty.

Oh well! I'd say 1.5 out of three (the second recipe gets 0.5, since the oven charred it) is a good start for an oven that's been out of circulation for several decades. :P

Do you notice differences when you bake in different ovens?

Have you ever tried a baked good with beans in it?

What's your favorite healthy dessert recipe?

Aug 27, 2011

Fro-NO

I just had the WORST fro-yo experience of my life. The worst food service experience, in general!

If you're ever in the Braunschweig area, I recommend staying far, far, FAR away from the Eis Cafe Tiziano - and it's not even the ice cream's fault! Sure, their menu is a stunner, but it's really hard to swallow considering the terribly rude service!

I had a cup of froyo with blueberries in syrup and candied walnuts, which tasted okay (not the best, but not the worst, froyo I've had) but I didn't enjoy my 8 Euro cup at all!


It really cost 4 Euro (still a lot, when you do the conversion to USD), but I dropped my first cup because I was so harried by the terribly rude, impatient brat who served me. My aunt and I rushed to clean up the mess, but she didn't even offer us a napkin or any empathy for my wasted yogurt!

There's only one word to describe the girl, and it rhymes with witch.

I'm actually sad that I bought another (I only did because I promised you guys a review of German froyo), as I don't want to give another penny of my hard-earned money to a company that employs workers who treat the customers so badly. I am NOT eating at Eis Cafe Tiziano again - I'd rather go without!

I've worked in froyo cafes before and if I had behaved even half as nasty as she did, I would have been fired (rightfully!) on the spot.

Have you ever had a really terrible customer service experience?

Aug 18, 2011

Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar?

*SOMEHOW FORGOT TO POST THIS EARLIER*

I stole the cookie from the cookie jar! Remember that childhood game? Hee-hee!

But, on a more serious note, I didn't actually steal the cookie from the cookie jar - stealing is wrong! Instead, the lovely Nicole Nelson of Erin Baker's Wholesome Baked Goods sent me a cookie! Along with a bunch of other tasty, whole grain treats to try:

Yup, that's *peanut butter* granola and those are organic *brownies* - ooh, get excited! Or, well, I guess I am the one who should get excited, as I'm the one who gets to sample them! :P

But today I stuck to this baby:


I know it's a breakfast cookie and thus meant to be eaten for breakfast - but I needed an afternoon snack and this was just the ticket! Plus, I'm not really a big cookie-for-breakfast person, as I love my yogurt messes entirely too much for that.

But this was a lovely snack and, with ingredients like these, a wholesome choice for a quick brekkie, too, if that's what floats your boat!

Note that the first ingredient is *whole grain* oats and note those lovely 5g of fiber to keep you - you know. ;) Also, don't freak at the sugar count (if you're the kind of person that freaks over things like that) - prune puree is the third ingredient, so you can bet your granny's dentures that a good portion of those are natural fruit sugars.

I slipped it out of the packet (okay, yanked it out - as the break reveals):


and stuck it in the microwave for fifteen seconds, to achieve that fresh-out-of-the-oven melty-chocolate-chip awesomeness. Awesomeness achieved!

It might not look so from this picture, but this was one *big* cookie. I could definitely see this filling some of you up for breakfast (definitely if you're the kind of lad or lass or who calls a bowl of cereal breakfast).

It was nice and chewy, with a regular distribution of lovely chocolate chips to add that rich chocolate flavor - definitely dessert-worthy. For me, at least, the coffee flavor was a bit lost. I caught some undernotes of it, but it definitely wasn't the predominant flavor to me - which was actually a good thing, as I'm more of a chocolate than a coffee person, anyway.

It was definitely not hockey-puckish either, and was actually almost cakey in the center - but still substantial, so I was quite pleased. My favorite parts, however, were the corners of the cookie. They had a wonder crunch-chew thing going on that I just adored. I bet that, if I had toasted this instead of microwaved it, the whole cookie would have been like that... Now that I look at the packaging again, it *does* suggest using a toaster (but doesn't mention a microwave - oh dear, if only I could read :P ).

This was definitely quite the treat, anyway!

Nomnomnom, the cookie monster approves!

If you want to get some healthy yummies for yourself, you can order them from Erin Baker's site. If you're a (often broke) college kid, like myself, I'd suggest checking out them out on YouTube , Facebook , or Twitter , too. They are known to post special offers through those venues (*shh,* you didn't hear it here)!

What do you think of the use of social media to spread coupons and deals?

Do you coupon-/deal-hunt online?

What's your favorite social media platform? It's a bit embarrassing how long it took me to figure Twitter out, so I'm not going to keep that to myself....

Aug 17, 2011

D-Liteful

It was a warm day in Boston, so we decided to head out for some frozen goodness to cool us off! A hop, skip, and T-ride lader, we found ourselves on Newbury Street. Now: to find that Pinkberry...

We searched high; we searched low. We did not find the Pinkberry. *Sigh.*

But we found Tasti D-Lite, instead! None of us had ever eaten at Tasti D-Lite before, but I have read about it and heard about it from New Yorker friends who are huge fans, so we decided to check it out!


My mom had a small cup of Tart & Tasti with raspberries, my little sister had a small cup of french vanilla with sprinkles and oreos, and I had a regular cup of Tart & Tasti with raspberries, blueberries, and a peanut butter brownie (I warned you about the sweet tooth!). These three cups were $18 and I have to admit that I wasn't too impressed with the few toppings they sprinkled on. For the same price, I could have way more toppings at Pinkberry or (my favorite) Red Mango.


It was tasty, though. The tangy Tart & Tasti lived up to its name and was very refreshing, as well as the perfect accompaniement to the brownie and the berries. The brownie tasted a little...beany?...and was kind of caky in consistency, but I really enjoyed it after the first two bites!


It's not a frozen yogurt, just a frozen dairy dessert (here's what's in the vanilla: water, nonfat milk, sugar, corn syrup, cream, guar gum, locust bean gum, carrageenan, vanilla, lactase) but it is tasty and I like that they had a nice tart flavor and that you can top it with what you want. They also had some tasty looking cookie sandwiches...

All in all, though, I think I'll stick to fro-yo as my favorite. This wasn't *quite* as delicious or *quite* as creamy, though it was good, and so I'd probably only eat here again if there were nothing better around.


Anyway, after having our frozen treats, we walked around Newbury Street a bit. I love Boston! There are so many different cultures, there's so much tradition (gothic churches juxtaposed with chrome sky rises!), and it's just such a fun, outdoors-friendly city!

Do you like Tasti D-Lite?

What's your favorite dessert?

Do you have a favorite city?

Aug 16, 2011

Java Fix

Hi, guys!

I'm in London, yippee! And this post is courtesy of last-week-in-Maine-me, who decided to schedule posts *just in case* (if I end up having WiFi access + time in London, then they'll just be extra posts - that's fine!).

So, without further ado: java time!


I'm the kind of person who can only handle coffee in Frappucino/Ice Cream form. This Gnu Foods Flavor & Fiber Espresso Chip bar was sweet and tasty, like the aforementioned, but much healthier - for when I need a snack that won't send me into a sugar crash!


Check out those whole grains and flax:


And it tasted like a healthy dessert, with lots of yummy flax and - this one came out of left field! - millet (?!) to add nice texture and chew to the bar. I'm a fan!


You get intense dark chocolate flavor with even more intense espresso notes overtop.

And, at least for me, a real energy burst from the caffeine! Because it's not made with coffee 'flavor' but with real ground coffee beans. As I'm not used to coffee, I was like 'yowzers!'

But it was tastylicious (tastilicious?) and I need that power burst to power me through presentation practice (this was an after dinner, ~9pm, snack to keep me going for a bit longer...surprisingly, I slept well despite the coffee!)

Anyway, this bar was really tasty - if all of them are like this and the Lemon Ginger bar I reviewed, I don't think I'll be able to pick favorites!

Does coffee keep you awake?

What's your favorite coffee flavor combination?

Do you drink coffee a lot?

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